Cake under a glass dome hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Cake under a glass dome: preview of the stitched design

A cake stands on a cake stand under a glass dome, seen from the front. The glass dome, the outline of the knob of the dome and the stand outline are gray stem stitch. The cake outline, the icing border and the shell border are tan stem stitch, and across the side of the cake three swags of pink chain stitch hang from four gold French knots, the pearls. On top of the cake a flower stands between two green fishbone stitch leaves: two dark pink outer petals round a light pink inner petal, all satin stitch, under three gold French knots for the stamens.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

6 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.4 in	4.1 × 3.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.1 in	6.1 × 5.3 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 2.8 in	7.9 × 7.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 3.5 in	9.9 × 8.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.5 × 4.9 in	14 × 12.4 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLeaves
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseOuter petals and swags
DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkInner petal
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStamens and pearls
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownCake outline, icing border and shell border
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayGlass dome, outline of the knob of the dome and stand outline

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsOuter petals, inner petal
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsStamens, pearls
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsCake outline, icing border, shell border, glass dome, outline of the knob of the dome, stand outline
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsSwags

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.